Blue Crayfish Antics

So, last night, I finally got a new crayfish after being unable to get any due them being either only occasional stowaways or out of stock in the local places until yesterday. I was at a place that I know stocks them but I didn't see any, so I went about just looking at fish I wish I could keep, and just as I was turning to leave out of the aquarium spot, I saw a blue tail fan sticking out from behind a rock that I had been looking at intensely checking for a sign of a burrow, and I apparently hadn't been looking in at the right angle to see him. I must have looked ridiculous as I saw that flash of blue and turned on my heel, looking like I'd been clotheslined. so far he doesn't pay any mind to the neon tetras, and seems to be intimidated by them. He would follow their shoal around nonchalantly, and if one of them turned around, he would back off very quickly. He's also rather defiant of the setup I made for the exact purpose of impeding a marching crayfish's movements. This spot is a bunch of plastic plants densely arranged in the narrow space between the plastic log and the back of the tank and is also the favorite spot of the neon tetras, so if they decide to rest back there, they would have ample time to escape if he decided to go back there.

Simon is currently missing a back leg and one of his claws is not the one he hatched with, because one of them is a slightly different shape and size, which indicates that it was lost and regrown a long time ago.

 

He is lovely and a beautiful bright blue. looking forward to more threads about Simon. Alison..

 

He is lovely and a beautiful bright blue. looking forward to more threads about Simon. Alison..

Thanks!

 

Since I don't fully trust Simon enough to completely shut off the lights, should I leave this lamp on next to the tank so that the fish can still see, but not have it look like daytime?
also, my phone camera doesn't like contrast at all, so the lamp appears brighter than it actually is, and the tank appears darker than it actually is.

 

The problem with the neons is they tend to be bottom sleepers. It won't hurt to leave that light on. Alison

 

I decided to just shut the lamp off and turn the tank lights back on because the lamp was putting out a lot of heat and I didn't want a fire on my hands. I'm not too surprised though, because I'm pretty sure that lamp is older than me. What's funny is that the neons were trying to orient themselves to the horizontal light.

 

"I am so camouflaged right now, you guys!"

 

View attachment 196604 "I am so camouflaged right now, you guys!"

lol, I wish there was a "love" button next to the like button

 

lol, I wish there was a "love" button next to the like button

Thanks! He really has no respect for the fact that that's the area I built for the neon tetras to be able to rest without him ambushing them since he'd have to shove his way through the plastic plants to get to them, which would alert them to his presence.

 

he's just selfish.. XD

 

Simon really seems to get a kick out of carrying armfuls of gravel into the log and setting it down...

 

Simon is absolutely gorgeous! That bright blue! Wow! Beautiful crayfish!

 

Simon is absolutely gorgeous! That bright blue! Wow! Beautiful crayfish!

Thanks!

I think I've finally found a way to dI'm the tank at night so that it isn't fully bright all the time and still allows enough light for the fish to see.

What I've done is put a loop of black duct tape over each light so that it doesn't completely cover them and allows light out the sides. I really like how it looks. Btw, my phone camera insists on making it look brighter than it is.
However I am concerned that my LEDs put out some heat, so I'll come back out in about an hour to check and see if the tape feels too hot. If so, I'll just have to remove it.

 

Putting the tape over the lights worked perfectly and didn't get too hot.
It's hilarious when Simon goes pushing through the plastic plants because they jiggle in a very cartoonish way.


It's adorable how he tries to use his tiny leg as normal.

 

View attachment 196705 It's adorable how he tries to use his tiny leg as normal.

Not to be repetitive or anything....but he is just stunning!!!!

 

Not to be repetitive or anything....but he is just stunning!!!!

Haha, thanks!


"I vant to pinch your thumbs!"

 

Simon built a mountain overnight

 

He has made it clear to me that he is an aspiring landscaper/aquascaper, interior designer, or geologist, he continued building his mountain all day, and then I saw him come out of the deep burrow he dug and go into the log, and he grabbed a few pebbles off his mountain, inspected them, and put them in the log. He sure has a lot going on!

 

He really loves building his mountain...

 

So, hopefully in one or two weeks, I will be upgrading to a 20 gallon long, and was wondering about Bolivian rams. I couldn't find a caresheet specifically for them, just the German blue rams. I have a feeling that they're probably pretty similar, but I did see a thread that said they have lower temp. requirements, so I wondered if there were any other differences. Because Simon seems to be a bit timid, even scared of the neons, I have a feeling it might work out with a ram and perhaps 2 more neons in a 20 gallon long. Any suggestions?

 

So, hopefully in one or two weeks, I will be upgrading to a 20 gallon long, and was wondering about Bolivian rams. I couldn't find a caresheet specifically for them, just the German blue rams. I have a feeling that they're probably pretty similar, but I did see a thread that said they have lower temp. requirements, so I wondered if there were any other differences. Because Simon seems to be a bit timid, even scared of the neons, I have a feeling it might work out with a ram and perhaps 2 more neons in a 20 gallon long. Any suggestions?

I've personally never seen crayfish and fish together as a good idea. Even a shy and timid cray is still a opportunistic predator. If it ever gets the perfect moment, it will strike. Would work great until that point,which may never come. I learned this the other day though, if your ever dosing an invert safe medicine like levamisole that makes fish more sluggish, things can go bad. Lost 2 tetras to the medicine, and a third one was so weak it couldn't escape a gs that chewed it up. It swam into sight after the remove medicine water change, missing it's entire tail fin and most of its dorsal. Didn't last the day.

 

I've personally never seen crayfish and fish together as a good idea. Even a shy and timid cray is still a opportunistic predator. If it ever gets the perfect moment, it will strike. Would work great until that point,which may never come. I learned this the other day though, if your ever dosing an invert safe medicine like levamisole that makes fish more sluggish, things can go bad. Lost 2 tetras to the medicine, and a third one was so weak it couldn't escape a gs that chewed it up. It swam into sight after the remove medicine water change, missing it's entire tail fin and most of its dorsal. Didn't last the day.

I will definitely take that into consideration, as I've got a fair amount of time before I'll be able to get any new fish, because I'll be on a trip for a little while after I get the 20 gallon, so I wouldn't be able to monitor any new arrivals.

 

Simon's evening and morning greetings are obviously very distinct somehow

 

Behold, the 20 gallon Long!




Also, Simon really hit the gym while I was at my dad's over the weekend

 

Beautiful tank!!! Simon is adorable!

 

Beautiful tank!!! Simon is adorable!

Thanks! The first thing he did in the tank was assert dominance over all of the plastic plants by shoving through them and sitting on them.

 

The more space you give those guys the more entertaining they become

 

"Plants cower before me as I eat my Omega One veggie round while sitting on my bristly planty throne!"

 

Haha, so last night, after I had shut off the aquarium lights with a lamp on in the room that doesn't have any direct line of sight to the tank, (the duct tape trick no longer works with this tank) I was taunting Simon into coming into the open area at the middle of the tank by mimicking the motions of an aggressive crayfish with my hands, and one of the sleeping neon tetras woke up to investigate. So this tetra gets all up in Simon's face, and I see that he's not focusing on me anymore, and I mentally prepared myself to intervene if this went badly. And as the tetra gets closer, he jumps up slightly and backpedals a few steps, (sort of like how a person would react to suddenly having a big loud bug get too close) before the tetra calmed back down to resume sleeping. He's such a ninny!

 

Lol that's funny!!

Yeah I always laugh at the idea that human beings get so afraid of bugs. ( myself included particularly with spiders) Could you imagine being a little bug and this big huge giant would run off screaming just at the sight of you

 

Lol that's funny!!

Yeah I always laugh at the idea that human beings get so afraid of bugs. ( myself included particularly with spiders) Could you imagine being a little bug and this big huge giant would run off screaming just at the sight of you

Man, I love people who are afraid of bugs. So easy to mess with them when you don't share that fear. One of my friends is terrified of June bugs, he can't stand how they constantly fly into him. I throw June bugs at him All. The. Time.

Really loving Simon! Makes me wish I could get more fish tanks

 

Man, I love people who are afraid of bugs. So easy to mess with them when you don't share that fear. One of my friends is terrified of June bugs, he can't stand how they constantly fly into him. I throw June bugs at him All. The. Time.

Really loving Simon! Makes me wish I could get more fish tanks

In my defense, there are some very deadly/poisonous spiders out there. So I think my bigger fear is getting bitten. Same with ticks and mosquitos which we have a LOT of this time of year. Again, their bite could cause deadly effects on a human, or any living creature for that matter. That is a scary thought!!

 

In my defense, there are some very deadly/poisonous spiders out there. So I think my bigger fear is getting bitten. Same with ticks and mosquitos which we have a LOT of this time of year. Again, their bite could cause deadly effects on a human, or any living creature for that matter. That is a scary thought!!

I only have to worry about the black widow and brown recluse, both of which are easily identifiable. I get what your saying though. You can't stop it though sometimes spiders crawl in your bed and ect, so it's best to just not ever worry about it. Well. That's how I go about unstoppable things. Just don't think about. Ever.

 

Hahaha! Yeah, I'm not a big fan of spiders. It's so funny how Simon is scared of the neon tetras. Also, I've noticed that Simon's claws are too long for him to use for bringing food to his mouth, which is kind of funny to watch him try to use them to eat. Also, what this means is even if he did decide to catch a fish, he wouldn't be able to do much with it since he can't reach his mouth.

 

Hahaha! Yeah, I'm not a big fan of spiders. It's so funny how Simon is scared of the neon tetras. Also, I've noticed that Simon's claws are too long for him to use for bringing food to his mouth, which is kind of funny to watch him try to use them to eat. Also, what this means is even if he did decide to catch a fish, he wouldn't be able to do much with it since he can't reach his mouth.

Yeah, you wouldn't think he would be afraid. Oh my, hopefully he'll grow into his claws xD.

 

Yeah, you wouldn't think he would be afraid. Oh my, hopefully he'll grow into his claws xD.

I dunno, with my previous crayfish of the same species, his claws also continued to become more and more disproportionate. I think that male Procambarus alleni's have claws better adapted for holding the claws of females during mating, rather than grabbing food. Not to mention that his claws have a relatively small contact area and the pointed tips don't align right.

 

I dunno, with my previous crayfish of the same species, his claws also continued to become more and more disproportionate. I think that male Procambarus alleni's have claws better adapted for holding the claws of females during mating, rather than grabbing food. Not to mention that his claws have a relatively small contact area and the pointed tips don't align right.

Yeah he would most likely only be able to catch and eat a fish if it was already sick and dying and vulnerable!

 

Yeah he would most likely only be able to catch and eat a fish if it was already sick and dying and vulnerable!

Ha, he could probably get a job as an undertaker or something

LOL! I was just now drawing him out, and he was all agitated, and he got up to the glass, punched it, and accidentally caught his antenna in his claw and wouldn't let go, possibly thinking he had grabbed his opponent, and he reared up on his rear legs and tail and started wildly flailing around while holding the tip of his antenna with that claw raised as far back as it could go, while the other one was waving around with his other limbs. It's really hard to describe exactly how crazy he looked dancing around like that!

 

It almost sounds like he thought someone else had a grip on his antenna! Lol

 

It almost sounds like he thought someone else had a grip on his antenna! Lol

Haha, that's what it looked like. Afterwards, he looked rather embarrassed lol.